Testing installation for electromagnetically-operated sparking plugs.



G. HONOLD.

TESTING- INSTALLATION FOR ELECTROMAGNETICALLY OPERATED SPARKING Puma. APPLICATION FILED FBB.12,1908.

LWBACY, Patented. 001;. 21, 1913 I UITE GOTTLOB Honorm', or s'ru'rtroenr, GERMANY.

urns'rmo' INSTALLATION on ELECTROMAGNETICALLY-OPERATED s'PARKING races.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct-21, 1913.

Application filed February 12, 1903. Serial No. 415,482.

T all .wlzom it may concern Be itknown that l, Go'r'rnon Hononn, engineer, a subjectof the German Emperor, residing at 11 Hoppenlaustrasse, Stuttgart, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Testing Installation for lllectrornagnctically-Operated Sparkingv Plugs; and I. do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invent-ion relates to a testing installation for electromagnetically operated spark-plugs for multi-cylinder internal combustion engines.

It has been common heretofore with multi-cylinder engines in which the usual spark plugs are employed, to. determine, in case of misfire, the particular plug which has failed by short circuiting all of the plugs, except one, taking'each of the plugs in turn, until the failure of ignition shows which log is defective. With electromagnetically operated spark plugs, however, the

' ordinary method of testing employed is not.

satisfactory for the reasonthat it the whole plug apparatus is short circui'ted, the magnet coils of the spark-plu' are excluded from the active circuit by t re short-circuit, thereby giving rise to a condition which does not exist in the ordinary operation of the ignition apparatus. In other words the resistahce of each magnet coil the short circu-ited plugs is removed from the ignition circuit, when the entire plug isshort-ciredited by the common method. heretofore employed with j urnp-sparhplugs, thereby materially changing the conditions od'the circuit at the time of testing as compared with its conditions diirin the ofelinary operaltions of the igniting evice'. Where the magnetic sparleplug is supplied with current from a generator such as a magneto", dynamo or alternator,- the change in the resistance of the circtritduring the test causes an increase in current in the armature ohsuit of the generator and consequently a material increase in the reaction of the armature upon the generator field, whereby the said field is materiallyweakened, this m turn resu ting in'a defective action of the ignition apparatus.

The object of my invention: is to provide a testing installation for mttl'ticylihder engines employing electromagnetic sparkplugs, and particularly for such apparatus in which a magneto or like generator is used a source of electricity for-operating the electromagnetic plugs in which the magnet COIl'S of the spark plugs will be included in the short circuit.

A further object of my invention is to I provide means whereby the testing of the plugs in such an apparatus may be accomplished conveniently and quickly.

With these general objects in View and some others, which will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the description hereinafter, an apparatus embodying my invention comprises, in connection with a multicylinder engine, a plurality of make and break spark-plugson'e for each cylinder of the engine, each having a stationary and a movable electrode, and electro-magneti'c means for operating the said movable elec- .trode, means forenergizing the said electro magncticoperating means, and means for temporarily short-circuiting the electrodes without short circuiting the windings of the electromagnetic operating means.

An apparatus embodying all the features of my invention comprises further details and combinations of parts which will first be described in connection with the accompanying drawings and then particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic View of an apparatus embodying my invention, showing one igniter only. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of an electromagnetic spark plug such as is employed by me, with the short-circuit connector in place. Big. 3;

a plan of the connection clip with the sparkplug in section. Fig; t is a diagrammatic view showing a plurality of igniters. 1

Referring to the drawings, A denotes the armature ofan ignition generator of any desired type, for example, a magneto generator, whose field is indicated at B, and its distribute'r at D. These parts are of any usual or desired construction as will be fully understood by those skilled in the art and constitute Well-knownelements in theignition circuits. These parts are all electrically connected with the sparking plug as. usual and in the diagram shown in Fig. 4e, femsparking plugs, l, 2, 3,4, are indicated, the

- windings being designated by the characters W, W W", W*-. The current when all the igniters are operating, passes from the genorator throu h the interrupter and the dist-ributer to t 1e windings and thence to the electrode or sparking From the 60 when the testing wire connector is engaged fit , the generator.

sparking points or plugs, the current may be led back to the generator but in the diagram the plugs and the generator are shown as grounded.

In the diagram, the plug 4 is in the active circuit while the electrodes or igniter points of the other plugs aregitout by means of testing wires or she t-circuit connections a, a a running f m the electrode wires to the return or round wire of the generator. In this ariafiig ement, the plug 4c may be tested by/s jmply driving the generator in the usual manner when a spark will be produced unless the plug is defective.

.l.-heplugs numbered 1, .2, and 3 will not operate because the current will not pass thereto but will run over the short circuit connections to the ground or return wire of It will be observed that the short-circuit connection is made between the winding and the electrode so that the windings of the cut-out plugs are included in the circuits and consequently the machine will operate under precisely the same conditions as though all the'plugs were working. The test'therefore, is highly efiicient and will show with certainty whether the plug tested will misfire in the ordinary running of the engine. The test of the plug 4. being completed, the testingwire is transferred from the plug to the plug 4 thereby cutting out the said plug 4 and bringing the plug 3 into the active circuit so that the said plug 3 may be tested. In like manner, each plug successively may be tested.

It is, of course, highly desirable that the connection of the testing wire to the plug to be tested may be made easily and quickly and that when the connection is made the short circuit be established with certaintyf To this end, I include the coil body 5, of the sparking plug in the normal circuit as a part of the same and secure the end of the testing wires, as a, to a clip 6 adapted to en gage the body 5. A very convenient form of a clip is a metallic U-shaped spring blade carrying a binding screw, the arms of which blade are adapted to embrace the body 5 and may be prevented from dropping by resting in an annular groove 7-, formed in the body, as will be readily understood. As. the body 5 forms a part of the circuit, the current will be diverted over the testing wire when the clip is applied to the body and will not pass to the igniter as long as the clip or clasp is in engagement with the body.

As there is no conductor leading from the casing, however, under the usual working conditions, the current will be forced to pass to the electrodes and produce a spark, but

on the body the current will he shunted ofi" over the more direct path presented by the said wire and the electrodes will be cut out of the circuit. The winding however, is included in the circuit in both instances so that the testing of the plugs will be under the same conditions that exist when the plugs are all operating. The testing wire may be easily and quickly connected to-or disconnected from the sparking plug by the means shown and described and without any change in the conditions affecting the plug.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. In a testing installation, the combination, with an electro-magnetic sparking plug having electrodes and a winding controlling the electrodes, of means for establishing a short circuit which willinclude the winding and cut out the electrode.

2. In a testing installation, the combination, with an electro-magnetic sparking plug having electrodes and a winding controlling the electrodes and a casing connected with the winding, of a testing wire,- and a spring clip connected to the testing wire and adapted to embrace the casing to establish a short circuit which will include the winding and cut out the electrodes.

3. In a testing installation, the combination, with an electromagnetic sparking plug comprising a cylindrical casing and having electrodes and a winding controlling the electrodes, the casing connected with the winding on the side remote from the generator,.and having an annular groove in its outer surface, of a testing wire, and a spring clip connected to the testing wire and adapted to enter the groove and embrace the casing to establish a short circuit including the winding and cutting out the electrodes.

4. In a testing installation for electromagnetic' sparking plugs, the combination of a' plurality of sparking plugs each having a winding'and an electrode controlled thereby, and means for establishing short circuits through some of the plugs .Which short circuits will include the windings and cut out the electrodes.

5. The combination with an'electromagnetic sparking plug having electrodes, a winding controlling the electrodes, and a casing or body inclosin the winding and forming a part of its circuit, of a testing wire adapted ing or body circuit.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses. I

R. Enwnn'r, 1 ERNST ULMnR.

to be connected to said cas-- to cut the electrodes out of the' 

